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Assignment 7 section 9

In his book, History of Sexuality, Foucault emphasized concepts of power and pleasure in relation to sexuality. Similar to Federici, Foucault talks about capitalism and how it deprived people of simple pleasures unless it was purposed for the benefit of the population. The law repressed sex that did not procreate, and as Foucault points out, it motivated revolts in people who wanted to experience freedom through overturning the repressive law on sexuality. There is interplay of power and pleasure, where people experience pleasure through sexual activities, and those in power are seeking to take away such pleasure from the people. Another aspect of power and pleasure is introduced when Foucault argues that pleasure is also experienced by those who exert power over others. There is an interesting relationship of how those being oppressed and those exerting oppression are both in a way striving to gain pleasure through their actions. In part two of the book, Foucault talks about the Catholic Church and the Christian pastoral, and one can see that people are seeking pleasure through sexual activities. People confessed to their sin of submitting to desire by seeking pleasure from sex. Despite the law that set boundaries in regards to sexuality, the high number of confessions indicated that people were still seeking pleasure from sex, even if it meant going against the law. This led to increased discourse amongst the people, and moreover, this was desired by Church leaders, who wanted to reconvert people back into faith by having them come to face with their sinful desires and eventually learn to master it.

The repression on sexuality is not as straightforward as one may think. Foucault explores many aspects throughout history, and even relates it to modern society, on the topic of sexuality and its continuous progression in regards to how it is represented and practiced.

People were oppressed because they weren’t “normal” and went against “nature.” Will there ever be a time when we can overcome this boundary of what is considered natural in this world and allow all kinds of people to be connected as one?

The Playboy magazine gives men pleasure by objectifying women. Is that a dominant desire shared by most men almost as a hidden natural instinct, or is it acquired taste?